Private Company Edition: Amplitude Ventures raised $192m for its second fund, while XGEN Venture debuted with €160m ($173.4m). Also, hub-and-spoke biopharma operator CinRx added $73m, Adcendo extended its series A round to €98m ($106.2m) and Grey Wolf raised $50m.

Recent moves in the industry include C-suite shuffles at Cosmo Pharmaceuticals and Nurix Therapeutics, as Cosmo Pharmaceuticals gets a new chief executive officer.

Syntekabio CSO HeaKyoung Cho talks to Scrip how the AI-driven drug development situation in Korea compares with global trends and what the domestic industry needs to do to survive rising competition at home and abroad.

Investors reacted quite differently to Bayer’s first-quarter results and those of its licensing partner Regeneron. There are sound reasons for this. It seems unlikely that one will help the other.

Syntekabio CSO HeaKyoung Cho talks to Scrip how the AI-driven drug development situation in Korea compares with global trends and what the domestic industry needs to do to survive rising competition at home and abroad.

From Wyeth/Pfizer to Jiangsu Hengrui to IMab to starting her own biotech, Joan Huaqiong Shen has seen many ups and downs of drug development in China. She sat down with Scrip on the sidelines of the recent DIA China meeting to discuss her latest startup devoted to novel small molecules to treat schizophrenia and epilepsy and a gene therapy for ALS.

The company is adopting a two-pronged strategy to capitalize on its presence in the country to expand the market for its inhaled therapies and biologics for asthma and COPD.

Emerging Company Profile: Efficacy data on the young group’s first pH-engineered antibody-drug conjugate could come next year, and potential partners will be watching.

Most of the companies with blockbuster drugs approved over the past decade oversaw their clinical development internally. Lilly holds the lead with eight blockbusters developed in-house.

Scrip analyzed data on top-selling drugs to see how long it takes to surpass $1bn in revenues and grow into $5bn and even $10bn brands.

A Scrip analysis of the industry’s top-selling drugs examines the power of indication expansion to drive revenue growth.

The industry’s top-selling drugs generate billions in revenues each year. Scrip analyzed data on nearly 200 blockbuster drugs to see which are forecast to make the most at peak and over a 14-year time horizon.

Chinese developers of innovative drugs for rare diseases are hoping to step into the global spotlight, helped by rapid clinical progress and low costs on their home turf.

Private Company Edition: Amplitude Ventures raised $192m for its second fund, while XGEN Venture debuted with €160m ($173.4m). Also, hub-and-spoke biopharma operator CinRx added $73m, Adcendo extended its series A round to €98m ($106.2m) and Grey Wolf raised $50m.

The UK biotech unveils Phase II data showing an ability to reduce severity of mild-to-moderate AA, with full hair restoration in some patients. If approved, STS-01 will compete with Olumiant and Litfulo.

The Roivant-owned company plans to initiate a broad clinical trial program for IMVT-1402 in multiple indications, prioritizing it over batoclimab, which remains in Phase III development. 

ANALYSIS: Few companies are pursuing therapies for bipolar disorder, but the few ongoing trials will yield data very shortly.

Phase I results from BHV-1300 underwhelmed investors, but Biohaven is moving ahead and has many more shots on goal in protein degradation and beyond.

Recent moves in the industry include C-suite shuffles at Cosmo Pharmaceuticals and Nurix Therapeutics, as Cosmo Pharmaceuticals gets a new chief executive officer.

Syntekabio CSO HeaKyoung Cho talks to Scrip how the AI-driven drug development situation in Korea compares with global trends and what the domestic industry needs to do to survive rising competition at home and abroad.

Neither the mechanism nor indication is disclosed, but BMS is paying $80m up front for global rights to PRX019, which one analyst speculated might be an Alzheimer’s candidate.

Veteran developers stay on to accelerate development of potential first-in-class drug to challenge Bayer/Regeneron’s Eylea and Roche’s Vabysmo in a deal worth up to $3bn.

The follow-on Cushing’s product relacorilant has hit in Phase III, and is forecast to lead the market – eventually.

Investors reacted quite differently to Bayer’s first-quarter results and those of its licensing partner Regeneron. There are sound reasons for this. It seems unlikely that one will help the other.